Young Africans believe aid cuts could have a positive impact, survey finds. A quarter of respondents think losing foreign money will force leaders to solve their own challenges.

A new survey has found that a quarter of young Africans believe aid cuts by the US could have a positive impact. The African Youth Survey interviewed almost 5,000 people across 16 countries. Many young people think that losing foreign money will force leaders to confront and solve their own challenges.

Survey findings

In Ghana and Nigeria, almost half of young people aged 18 to 24 were optimistic about the impact of aid cuts, with 41% and 40% respectively believing it could be positive. Liberia was not far behind, with 37% of young people holding this view. A further 11% of young people were uncertain about the impact.

International context

The Trump administration announced in early 2025 that it was eliminating more than 90% of USAID’s foreign contracts and $60bn in overall US assistance around the world. Other countries, including Britain, France, and Germany, have also been slashing aid budgets. The UK announced in February 2025 that the aid budget would be cut from 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3% in 2027.

Reactions and implications

The sudden USAID cuts were met with public outrage and pushback from development and humanitarian organisations. Nearly half of African youth (46%) believed the closure of USAID would have a damaging impact on their countries, with healthcare services and disease prevention seen as the areas most affected. However, some executives, such as Degan Ali and Hibak Kalfan, see the cuts as an opportunity for African countries to reassess their dependence on foreign aid and explore alternative resources.